Blue
by Panthermask
Summary: What if Firestar never came to ThunderClan? What if Tigerstar didn't get away with what he'd done? This is a story told completely in Bluestar's pov. Please take note that most of the plot and characters differ from that of the actual canon series. Cover image belongs to Dreaming-Roses on DA. Rated T for explicit violence, gore, and controversial themes.
1. Prologue

Bluestar sat alone in a deserted clearing, gazing at the stars above. The crisp moonlight painted her fur a bright silver. A dappled tortoiseshell she-cat silently joined her. Bluestar acknowledged her arrival with a subtle flick of her tail.

"Greetings, Spottedleaf," Bluestar greeted ThunderClan's medicine cat, shifting a little so she could sit beside her.

Spottedleaf answered with a dip of her head, warm eyes glinting in the evening light.

"How is everyone? After the battle with RiverClan?" Bluestar asked, her voice tinged with concern.

"They will recover Bluestar. None of their wounds are too serious, however, this defeat puts ThunderClan at great risk," Spottedleaf replied, turning her head to look into Bluestar's deep blue eyes solemnly.

Bluestar sighed, letting her breath fog into the air. "I know. I am extremely concerned about our safety. ThunderClan hasn't lost a battle in its own territory since I was given my nine lives."

"Are you looking to StarClan for guidance?" Spottedleaf asked, turning her gaze to the stars that sparkled above their heads.

"Yes. Tigerclaw, Redtail, and Ravenpaw still haven't returned to camp. Something must've happened," Bluestar replied. She felt Spottedleaf's body stiffen beside hers.

"You're right. I hadn't noticed until now. My brother…" she said hoarsely, turning her eyes to her paws. Her breathing started to quicken.

"Hey, calm down, you're alright," she tried to soothe her, but Spottedleaf's eyes were glazed over, and she was trembling.

Suddenly the medicine cat jolted out of her trance-like state, looking around fearfully.

"I had a vision," she whispered. "Tigerclaw… Covered in blood. He hasn't changed, Bluestar. He's still… Like him…"

Spottedleaf's pupils constricted, and she drew her paw up to her throat, feeling where the fur had been permanently parted with a long scar.

Bluestar gently moved Spottedleaf's paw away from the horrible reminder of what had happened to her as an apprentice.

"He can't hurt you anymore, Spottedleaf. You know that. I promise you'll never have to see him again," Bluestar murmured, resisting the urge to growl at the thought of the wretched cat that had once belonged to ThunderClan. "Are you sure of what you saw? Is Tigerclaw a danger to the clan?"

"Yes," Spottedleaf replied, steadying her breathing. "What are you going to do about him, Bluestar?"

"I'm not sure yet," she answered, fur standing on end with the thought. "I suppose we'll have to wait and see."

Spottedleaf nodded, pressing herself into Bluestar's fur for protection against the crisp night air. Bluestar returned the gesture, resting her head on Spottedleaf's shoulders. The two silently drifted off, hoping the morning would bring better news to come.


	2. Chapter 1

The dawn sun slowly peeked over the horizon, spilling milky light over the land. Bluestar opened her eyes as she felt her pelt grow warm with sunshine. She silently stood up, not wanting to wake Spottedleaf, and stretched her stiff limbs, yawning. She scoured the camp for any signs that the missing patrol had returned, but there were none. With a sigh, she padded up to the fresh-kill pile. Prey was becoming scarce as the seasons had begun to change. Slowly food was retreating into the undergrowth to stay put during leafbare. Her jaws closed around the scrawniest, oldest mouse she could find. Bluestar figured the queens and elders should be getting the fresher food instead of her.

The blue-grey she-cat lifted her head as white fur emerged from the warriors' den. It was her nephew, Whitestorm. He grabbed a shrew for himself and trotted over to join her.

"You should really eat more, Bluestar," he commented, concern clear in his voice.

"Please, Whitestorm. The rest of the clan needs the food more than I do," Bluestar retorted, flicking her tail in dismissal.

"The clan needs a strong leader if it is to survive. Especially with what's going as of late," he argued, flattening his ears.

"Whitestorm, it's time you stop trying to take care of me. I think it would be a good idea to start looking for a mate," Bluestar suggested. "Do you have someone in mind?"

"Maybe," Whitestorm teased. "You'll know soon enough so I won't bother telling."

"Oh dear, Whitestorm, did you already get her pregnant?" Bluestar replied, covering her face with a paw in mock shame.

"For StarClan's sake, no Bluestar!" Whitestorm growled, blushing furiously.

Bluestar laughed at his flustered behavior. Both she and Whitestorm then lifted their heads as a gloriously maned golden figure emerged from the warriors' den. His fur glimmered in the dawn light, a clear indication he had just groomed. Whitestorm rolled his yellow eyes in annoyance.

"Seriously, Lionheart? Who are you out trying to impress?" Whitestorm remarked with a flick of his tail.

"No one. I just wanted to look nice today," Lionheart responded in his deep rumbling voice, lifting his chin with pride.

Bluestar smiled. "Well I'm sorry to say this Lionheart but all that grooming is going to waste. I want you to lead the dawn patrol today," she informed.

Lionheart's ears dropped for a few seconds, but he tried his best not to look too disappointed.

"Who do you want me to take Bluestar?" he inquired, looking at her expectantly.

"I would like you to take Graypaw with you, as well as Darkstripe, Longtail, and Willowpelt," she quickly decided.

Whitestorm frowned. "We're a little short on warriors, don't you think Bluestar?"

Bluestar nodded solemnly. "The older apprentices can have their assessments today," she suggested, looking to Whitestorm and Lionheart for approval. Both nodded. "I mean, they're a little young to be warriors, but you two have been training them quite well."

"What I'm worried about is the kit situation," a new voice piped in.

Spottedleaf strode up to the group, settling down between Whitestorm and Bluestar.

"There are none in the nursery. Goldenflower's quite far along in her pregnancy but according to my evaluation, she's only expecting one or two in her litter. Even still they'll need to stay in the nursery for another six moons."

Lionheart nodded his head in understanding. "So when these apprentices become warriors we'll have no kits to take their places."

"Well, there's nothing we can do about that, now can we? For now we'll just have to wait. This is a difficult time for ThunderClan but I promise we'll make it through," Bluestar reassured. "Now, how about you get that patrol going Lionheart."

"Yes, of course, Bluestar," Lionheart dipped his head, leaving the group to wake the others up.

Bluestar sighed, using her claws to scrape dirt over the remains of her finished meal. A paw gently nudged her shoulder, grabbing her attention.

"Bluestar, I need to speak to you, privately," Spottedleaf whispered, a hint of urgency in her voice.

Bluestar tilted her head in confusion but nodded. She waved her tail farewell to Whitestorm before leading Spottedleaf into her den.

"What's wrong? Did you have another vision last night?" Bluestar asked, shuffling her paws in apprehension.

"No… But I feel like something's off… Don't you think it's weird that just three cats didn't return from Sunningrocks? All the others did, but just Tigerclaw, Redtail, and Ravenpaw are missing. Something happened, I can feel it," Spottedleaf stammered.

Bluestar opened her mouth to reply but was quickly interrupted as a yowl echoed through the camp. She bolted out of her den, Spottedleaf quietly following.

A scrawny black apprentice was shaking in the middle of camp. Scarlet blood flowed heavily from his shoulder, the liquid red pattering in drops to the ground.

"Redtail is dead!"

Author's Note: Thank you to my small amount of supporters! Your reviews really do motivate me so thanks :) Also I apologize for the short chapters, I am nowhere near an experienced writer, so making content meatier proves to be a little bit of a challenge for me heh


	3. Chapter 2

"Tell me what happened, Ravenpaw," Bluestar demanded, staring intently at the young apprentice.

"W-we were at Sunningrocks, fighting RiverClan. Soon most of the patrol had to leave because of injury, and it was a clear victory on RiverClan's part. But Tigerclaw, he wouldn't give up. He-he attacked Oakheart…" Ravenpaw gasped, his limbs crumpling under him, and collapsed. Spottedleaf quickly ran over to assist.

"He's losing too much blood. Someone help me carry him into my den," she mewed, sniffing at the gaping wound in Ravenpaw.

Frostfur, a snow-furred queen, ducked her head to support Ravenpaw's rear-side. Before the two even reached the den, the sound of heavy pawsteps and snapping twigs could be heard from the gorse tunnel. A large, thick-furred, dark brown tabby tom shoved his broadened shoulders through the camp entrance. Crimson steadily dripped from a cut on his muzzle, and his pelt was smeared and spiked with the blood of his and others. In his jaws was the scruff of a dappled tom, possessing a very prominent auburn tail. Redtail.

"Redtail!"

The distressed cry of Spottedleaf shook Bluestar from her daze. The medicine cat left Frostfur to tend to Ravenpaw, rushing over to Tigerclaw. The warrior let Spottedleaf take her brother's corpse from him. Bluestar looked on sadly as she dragged Redtail's body to the center of camp, burying her face into his bloodied neck fur.

It took Bluestar a while to speak. Redtail had been her first deputy. Although it hadn't been for long, she had still gotten quite close to him and knew much of the clan felt the same.

"Tigerclaw. Tell me what happened," Bluestar spoke, clenching her teeth together hard to prevent any tears from escaping her eyes. She recalled the words Whitestorm had spoken just moments before. _The clan needs a strong leader if it is to survive._ She decided she would let that thought drive her actions today.

"After the battle at Sunningrocks, RiverClan was gloating their victory. Redtail and I were the only two ThunderClan left, as the others had left because of their wounds. RiverClan started crossing the river back into their territory, so we decided to leave as well. But Oakheart, he stayed behind. He ambushed us from behind, killing Redtail. I avenged his death, in your honor, Bluestar," Tigerclaw explained, ducking his head.

Bluestar sharply sucked in a breath of air. Oakheart was dead. But, what disturbed her more was what had led to his death. Was he trying to get revenge on her? Why in StarClan would he kill someone she was close to? No, it couldn't be true. She knew Oakheart. She knew he would never deliberately kill anyone, unless absolutely necessary.

"You're lying," she growled, curling her lip.

Tigerclaw's amber eyes widened in surprise. The fur along his spine rose.

"What are you talking about Bluestar? You have no reason not to believe me. That's really what happened!" Tigerclaw was pulsing with stress, and it was clearly visible through his fearful expression and twitching paws.

Bluestar narrowed her eyes, lashing her tail.

"You left something out," she snarled. "You said you and Redtail were the only cats present at Sunningrocks after the battle. But what about Ravenpaw?"

A few unstifled gasps erupted from the watching crowd.

"I-I told him to go back to camp! I didn't know he was watching, I swear!" Tigerclaw scrambled.

"Watching what?" Bluestar countered.

"I can tell you what really happened!" Ravenpaw stepped up to Bluestar. His shoulder was now properly dressed, and he was looking a lot more alert than he did before.

Bluestar looked at him expectantly.

"While RiverClan was leaving Redtail held Oakheart back to speak with him, I'm not entirely sure what about. Tigerclaw was the one who ambushed Oakheart. Redtail tried to get them to stop, but there was a rockslide, and Oakheart was crushed," he began to explain. "Then Tigerclaw attacked Redtail. And-and he killed him!"

Bluestar's claws sheathed and unsheathed impulsively as hot rage boiled inside her. Struggling to control her voice she said, "Spottedleaf, examine the body."

The tortoiseshell medicine cat had hot tears bubbling down her cheeks but silently nodded.

"Well, the inflicted wound that caused Redtail's death is located on the throat. I-if Oakheart had ambushed from behind, the killing blow would have most likely been dealt to the back of the neck," she observed.

Bluestar narrowed her ice-blue eyes, letting them pierce Tigerclaw like thorn-sharp claws. He flinched under her gaze.

"Go on," she murmured.

"His claws. They're torn, indicating some sort of struggle," Spottedleaf whispered, inching her face closer to the corpse's bloody paws. She backed away suddenly, covering her mouth with a paw in shock.

"You killed him!" she cried, reeling to face Tigerclaw. "Your fur is in his claws! You did this to him! You killed my brother!"

Bluestar froze, staring at the ground with widened eyes. Redtail's death had been caused by one of her own warriors. A traitor. It all settled in at once. She shook her head in disbelief, closing her eyes tight. Trying to wake up from this terrible nightmare. But she never did.

"You traitor!"

Bluestar was shook from her thoughts by a caterwaul. It was Spottedleaf. Her eyes, once filled with grief, were now aflame with anger. Several bystanders uttered the same word. Traitor. Sandpaw, Redtail's daughter, spat angrily in Tigerclaw's direction, standing protectively in front of her mother, Brindleface. She wasn't able to stop what happened next.

With a yowl, Spottedleaf leapt at Tigerclaw. He let out a muffled screech as his face was shoved into the dirt. The medicine cat dug her claws hard into his shoulders, holding him to the ground. He struggled under her grasp.

"You're going to pay for what you've done. I'll make you suffer the same pain he did," she growled menacingly against his ear.

No one moved to stop her. No one could process what was happening. Bluestar stood by, her paws stuck to the ground, her mouth agape in shock.

Spottedleaf closed her jaws around the back of Tigerclaw's neck, slowly compressing his vertebrae. She pressed his throat into the hard earth, letting him suffocate. Blood began to wet his thick fur, spilling onto the ground. She suddenly jerked his neck to the side, snapping it with a blood-curdling crack.


End file.
